Chief executive of Mayo County Council, Peter Hynes, responded to a query from Sinn Féin councillor Rose Conway-Walsh about claims made of planning irregularities in an unnamed county in the Sunday Independent last week. Mr Hynes responded to the councillors query saying: “I am aware of the coverage in a national newspaper at the weekend. You will be aware that no county was named in that and it appears that it might refer to Mayo, but as of now, we have had no communication from any agency or authority. If we are communicated with, as always we will co-operate fully with any investigation that takes place to its conclusion.” He concluded by saying that he couldn’t comment any further.

There were angry scenes in the Mayo County Council chamber on Monday, when Fine Gael councillor Gerry Coyle and Sinn Féin councillor Gerry Murray got involved in a heated side battle with each other during a debate on a motion from Sinn Féin councillor Rose Conway-Walsh which was calling for water charges to be scrapped.

Speaking after it emerged that many students were still waiting for their school bus tickets to be issued earlier this week, Sinn Féin Councillor Rose Conway-Walsh said this was just one in a list of problems with the school transport system, and called for a review by the Department of Education and Skills.